Obama 'unaware' of aunt's immigration status

Headline: Obama didn't know aunt's immigration status

The reason this article caught my eye was because of the headline link on cnn.com that reads,

Obama was 'unaware' of his aunt's immigration status.

Not only does this article evoke a condescending tone that implies a stupidity and ignorant on Obama's behalf, but the reporter of this article, (who did not write the actual headline) included quotes from Obama's memoirs regarding his aunt.

An official familiar with the aunt's immigration status told CNN on Saturday that Onyango remains in the U.S. four years after she was ordered to leave.


This quote from the article uses biased language in the phrase "she was ordered to leave." The In a perviously published AP article, it was reported that a judge rejected Onyango's request for asylum four years ago, and "the Kenyan native is living in public housing in south Boston."

While the above remarks are not fabricating any truths, the language and way the information was presented leads to an implied bias against the Senators aunt.

Furthermore, later in the article it is revealed that Obama has not spoken to the woman in two years. Yet, the quotes included in the article from his memoirs suggest otherwise.

In his book, Obama describes meeting his aunt when he visited Kenya as a young man.

"A tall, brown-skinned woman was smiling beside us, and Auma [Obama's half-sister] turned and said, 'Barack, this is Auntie Zeituni. Our father's sister," Obama wrote.

"'Welcome home,' Zeituni said, kissing me on both cheeks."

While this article is not entirely false or biased, many aspects of the text are subjective and could have been checked by a copy editor from another political party.

CNN's Mike Ahlers, Jeanne Meserve and Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report. It was posted on November 2, 2008 at 3:10 pm on CNN.COM

The half-sister of Sen. Barack Obama's Kenyan father reportedly lives in this complex in South Boston.